When a new appliance, certain furniture and other large objects are delivered to a home or business, they are often wrapped in a thin plastic film to protect them from minor scratches, smudges and dust. These films are so thin that they rarely protect the object at all and are often torn and scratched right through to the object. Because the people moving an object with such a film are under the mistaken impression that such films will protect the object, they are often less careful with the wrapped object than an unwrapped one, resulting in further damage to the object being moved.
To further protect the objects from being damaged by the movers or delivery personnel (i.e., scrapping the object along walls or running into the sharp corners of other objects), the objects are often additionally wrapped in thick insulated moving blankets or furniture pads. A typical moving blanket is 72 inches by 80 inches and is made from a non-woven, polyester fabric covering on both sides, with a cotton filler. The blanket is often quilted to keep the cotton filler from bunching up within the blanket. The more expensive the blanket, the thicker the blanket. More expensive blankets are often made entirely of cotton and can be washed. A furniture pad is often smaller than a blanket and thicker. Additional moving materials include quilted and padded covers for certain types of appliances and furniture, such as refrigerator covers and couch covers that come in different sizes and fit snuggly over the top and sides of the object to be moved.
To keep a rectangular padded cover (versus a fitted cover) in place, packing tape, bungee cords or large rubber bands are wrapped around the blankets and object. Using packing tape is wasteful and expensive and leaves adhesive material on the blankets as well as the object being moved when the blankets are reused without cleaning. Bungee cords and rubber bands can be awkward to use and add additional girth to the object being moved. The additional girth is a non-trivial issue. As appliances get larger and larger, they get harder to move into certain buildings, especially older buildings that have narrower doorways, elevators and hallways. Once an object has been wrapped on all sides and secured in place with bungee cords and/or bands, an inch or more can be added to the overall width of the object being moved. When this object is being moved through a doorway that requires the door to be removed or other tight areas, there is an even greater likelihood that the object being moved will come in contact with another object, such as a door jamb, a corner of a wall, etc.
Finally, although moving blankets and similar types of blankets are soft and thick, and will protect an object from being lightly scrapped, such blankets do not provide protection from harder scrapes (where the object coming in contact with the object being moved asserts significant pressure against the object being moved) and/or punctures from sharp objects.